The People We are Trying to Help are Being Massacred

Reuters)

General News
23/09/2009 10:12:37

UPDATE: More than 100 dead in South Sudan attack - officials
*Surge in violence threatens peace deal, southern stability

*Some locals say attack was revenge for cattle rustling

By Skye Wheeler

JUBA, Sudan, Sept 21 (Reuters) - More than 100 people were killed when tribesmen raided a south Sudan village, burning buildings and attacking churchgoers, officials said on Monday, in a further escalation of violence in the oil-producing region.

A surge of tribal killings this year has sparked fears for the stability of Sudan''s underdeveloped south, still emerging from two decades of civil war.

Fighters from the Lou Nuer tribe attacked the village of Duk Padiet, home to a rival Dinka group, on Sunday morning while many of the villagers were in church, officials told Reuters.

The extent of the carnage only emerged on Monday when officials reached the remote settlement in Jonglei state.

A total of 51 villagers and 28 southern soldiers, national security and police officers guarding the settlement were killed, said southern army spokesman Kuol Diem Kuol.

"From the attackers 23 bodies were found on the ground. These attackers were found in uniform with arms and organized in a military organisation in platoons with G3 rifles," he said.

The United Nations estimates more than 1,200 people have died in ethnic attacks in south Sudan this year.

Some of the fiercest fighting has been in Jonglei, parts of which are included in a largely unexplored oil concession operated by France''s Total.

Southern politicians have accused their former civil war foes from north Sudan of arming rival tribes to destabilise the region in the build-up to elections in 2010 and a referendum on southern secession in 2011. Khartoum denies the accusation.

THOUSANDS FLED AS BUILDINGS BURNED

"This is a campaign against the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (the faltering 2005 accord that ended Sudan''s north-south civil war) and against the people of Duk," Mayen Ngor, the commissioner of surrounding Duk County, told Reuters by phone from near the scene of the attack.

Ngor said the attackers burned down 260 huts, the police station and local government buildings, injuring 46 people and forcing thousands to flee.

Around two million people died in the 1983-2005 war between Sudan''s Muslim north and mostly Christian south. The conflict also set southern tribes against each other as the north backed rival southern militias.

Some analysts and southern leaders say they fear the new violence marks a return of the southern militias, backed by groups trying to undermine the peace deal, or local leaders, strengthening their power bases in the run-up to elections.

The 2005 peace deal which promised elections and a referendum also gave the south a share of the country''s oil wealth and set up a semi-autonomous southern government.

North-south relations have remained tense and analysts say many of the northern political elite are nervous about the referendum, and the prospects of losing the south, the source of most of Sudan''s proven oil reserves.

South Sudan has long been plagued by ethnic clashes, mostly fought over cattle and related feuds. But observers have been shocked by the scale of this year''s violence, where tribal fighters have attacked villages and killed women and children.

Members of the Lou Nuer tribe this month denied their fighters had joined militias, telling Reuters most of the recent raids were revenge attacks for past cattle rustling.

"It is just cattle raiding ... It''s just revenge," said William Khor Reath, executive director for Akobo County, a mostly Lou Nuer area in Jonglei state.

Traditional disputes have been exacerbated by a ready supply of guns left over from the civil war. (Editing by Andrew Heavens and Tim Pearce)

http://www.gurtong.org/photogallery/Duk-Padiet-Attacks/index.htm

A picture Worth Thousand Words

Dear friends, supporters of the SSEC,

Please see yourself the pictures of the school you and I are working on. These pictures came from the site and contain bricks production and construction materials being downloaded. We are getting there slowly, but with confidence and resolve. Next, we will be seeing a picture of a beautiful school with a student standing in front of a classroom with broader smile saying thank you!!!

Let us once again rejuvenate and push this project to the final result we’re aiming for-------a full school with eight classrooms, two toilets, and a library.

Thank you all for your contribution!

Invitation to Speak at Centerville Rotary Club

Solomon spoke at the Centerville's Club this morning. Stay tuned because more information will be provided later.

Additional Funds for the SSEC

Dear supporters of the SSEC, Solomon has received an email from the top donor and friend, Coleen Clark for additional funds toward the project. Coleen has been mobilizing her family to see through that the project succeeded. The commitment ranged from prayers to thousand dollars. Her family has contributed over 65% of the funds so far, and 20% from her family efforts in mobilizing their friends for support. On behave of the SSEC, Solomon is very thatful to Coleen and her family. Stay tune, Solomon will update you when the check is presented.

An Update

Friends, this is to update you on the school construction process. I called home yesterday and I talked to both civil administrator and the paramount chief. They were thankful to the donors for the first shipment of the construction materials. They told me that the construction site has been cleared and leveled and were ready to produce bricks; however, they are faced by the following:
1. Truck to carry sand to construction site. They said those with private truck are asking for $200 per one tripe
2. Rocks for constructing foundation. The area has no nearby mountain to collect rocks. However, small rocks could be collected in the Jonglei Canal. There are people who collect rocks for sale. One sack of small rocks costs $15
3. Proposed to make block bricks instead of mud bricks. This was to make it durable and not destroyed by unexpected rainfall during the process
4. Food for those who would be doing manual work. They told me that harvest was bad last year because of flood. They are proposing one meal a day for those who would be doing work.

My response to the above was that there was no enough money to do them; however, I told them that I will raise these issues with you, the donors.

Solution
• Truck: I told them to make an agreement with truck owner for future payment
• Rocks: No clear solution, but construction wouldn't be possible without rocks for foundation
• Block bricks: I told them to go ahead since they only need 70 sacks of cement
• Food: Conditional based on the money we have

What does this mean?
This means that the budget presented was not enough because the costs of these requirements were not included. Therefore, we need to raise additional money because they are vital for the project.

Thank you for standing behind this worthwhile project, together, we're getting closer!!!